Inducing Complete Polyp Regeneration from the Aboral Physa of the Starlet Sea Anemone Nematostella vectensis

Summary

Here we demonstrate how to induce and monitor regeneration in the Starlet Sea Anemone Nematostella vectensis, a model cnidarian anthozoan. We demonstrate how to amputate and categorize regeneration using a morphological staging system, and we use this system to reveal a requirement for autophagy in regenerating polyp structures.

Abstract

Cnidarians, and specifically Hydra, were the first animals shown to regenerate damaged or severed structures, and indeed such studies arguably launched modern biological inquiry through the work of Trembley more than 250 years ago. Presently the study of regeneration has seen a resurgence using both "classic" regenerative organisms, such as the Hydra, planaria and Urodeles, as well as a widening spectrum of species spanning the range of metazoa, from sponges through mammals. Besides its intrinsic interest as a biological phenomenon, understanding how regeneration works in a variety of species will inform us about whether regenerative processes share common features and/or species or context-specific cellular and molecular mechanisms. The starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, is an emerging model organism for regeneration. Like Hydra, Nematostella is a member of the ancient phylum, cnidaria, but within the class anthozoa, a sister clade to the hydrozoa that is evolutionarily more basal. Thus aspects of regeneration in Nematostella will be interesting to compare and contrast with those of Hydra and other cnidarians. In this article, we present a method to bisect, observe and classify regeneration of the aboral end of the Nematostella adult, which is called the physa. The physa naturally undergoes fission as a means of asexual reproduction, and either natural fission or manual amputation of the physa triggers re-growth and reformation of complex morphologies. Here we have codified these simple morphological changes in a Nematostella Regeneration Staging System (the NRSS). We use the NRSS to test the effects of chloroquine, an inhibitor of lysosomal function that blocks autophagy. The results show that the regeneration of polyp structures, particularly the mesenteries, is abnormal when autophagy is inhibited.

Introduction

The observation of regeneration in a single hydra was the seminal event in the advent of biology as an experimental science^1,2. Regeneration remains a phenomenon of extraordinarily broad appeal to biologist and lay person alike. The potential for developmental biologists, clinicians, biomedical scientists and tissue engineers to understand and overcome the limits on human regeneration makes regeneration biology more than intrinsically interesting.

Now, with the use of emerging technologies such as genome sequencing and gain and loss of function tools, the field is poised to tease apart regenerative mechanisms and to ulti....

Protocol

1. Conditioning of Animals for Temperature, Nutrition and Light/Dark Cycle

1. Obtain Nematostella vectensis adults from one of the numerous Nematostella labs worldwide, or a non-profit supplier (Table 1)
2. Maintain Nematostella at constant temperature (typically between 18 and 21 °C) in the dark, in "1/3x" Artificial Sea Water (ASW) at a salinity of 12 parts per thousand (ppt). Maintain cultures in simple soda-lime glass culture dishes, typically 250 mL or 1.5 L capacity¹¹.
   Note: These simple culture conditions are commonly used among labs that study Nematostella<....

Results

The progression of morphological events during regeneration in severed physa is shown in Figure 1A, which includes representative views of physa at each NRSS stage. The typical physa cut site is indicated on the adult (arrowheads). The photographs in Figure 1A show progressive regeneration of oral and body structures from freshly cut physa through fully formed polyp. Figure 1B, C show the arrangement of internal septa, the mesenteries, at.......

Discussion

Use of Nematostella as a model of wound healing and regeneration is becoming increasingly popular. Thus, it is important to be able to visualize the morphological patterns of a particular protocol before effective cellular and molecular analyses can be assigned and compared. Nematostella have a high degree of regenerative "flexibility", being able to reform almost any missing structure amputated at any location, at post-planula stages of life. Thus, various investigators have examined regenerati.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Nematostella vectensis, adults	Marine Biological Lab (MBL)		non-profit supplier
Glass Culture Dish, 250 mL	Carolina Biological Supply	741004	250 mL
Glass Culture Dish, 1,500 mL	Carolina Biological Supply	741006	1,500 mL
Polyethylene transfer pipette, 5 mL	USA Scientific	1022-2500	narrow bore, graduated
Polyethylene transfer pipet, tapered	Samco	202-205	cut off 1 inch of tip to make wide bore
Disposable Scalpel	Feather Safety Razor Co. Ltd	no. 10	blade should be curved
#5 Dumont Fine point tweezers	Roboz	RS5045	alternative suppliers available
Pyrex Petri dish, 100 mm diameter	Corning	3160	can substitute other glass Petri plates
Sterile 6-well plate	Corning Falcon	353046	or similar from other manufacturer
Sterile 12-well plate	Nunc	150628	or similar from other manufacturer
Sterile 24-well plate	Cellstar, Greiner bio-one	662-160	or similar from other manufacturer
Brine shrimp hathery kit	San Francisco Bay; drsfostersmith.com	CD-154005	option for growing brine shrimp
pyrex baking dish	common in grocery stores		option for growing brine shrimp
artificial seawater mix 50 gal or more	Instant Ocean; drsfoster-smith.com	CD-116528	others brands may suffice
Plastic tub for stock ASW preparation	various		common 25 gallon plastic trash can OK
Polypropylene Carboy	Carolina Biological Supply	716391	For working stock of ASW @ 12 ppt
Beaker, Graduated, 4,000 mL	PhytoTechnology Laboratories	B199	For dilution of 36 ppt ASW to 12 ppt
Stereomicroscope and light source	various		with continuous 1 - 40X magnification